By Jessica Materna, The Business Press, Ontario, Calif.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Nov. 1--A Seattle-based developer plans to build a $30 million, 315-room hotel and convention center complex that
would become Cathedral City's first four-star facility and help flesh out the city's elaborate downtown renewal
plan.
"This all fits in with the plan for redevelopment which the city established some time back," Patti Drusky,
executive director of the city's Chamber of Commerce, said of the proposal by City Group LLC.
"All of the proposed development ties in with the idea of creating a one-stop venue in the downtown area that
will service both the people who live in the community and the people who come to visit."
The City Council unanimously agreed Oct. 27 to approve a memorandum of understanding with City Group to build the
hotel and convention center on a 3.5-acre property on the south side of East Palm Canyon Drive, west of the senior
center-recreation complex.
The size and scope of the convention-hotel complex will be determined by City Group during its design phase.
City Group officials are negotiating with four high-end hotel chains -- the names of which the company has not
yet revealed -- to develop a four-star facility on the site.
The memorandum, which expires April 25, allows the developers to hammer out a detailed design for the hotel while
negotiating with the city for assistance on public improvements like sidewalks, curbs, gutters and storm water
systems, said the city's Redevelopment Agency spokesman, Paul Shillcock.
City Group also must submit a good-faith deposit of $400,000 to cover costs incurred by the city during the negotiating
process. Any unused funds will be returned to the developer April 25.
City Group is a recently established consortium of developers who came together for this particular project --
which, when completed, will give Cathedral City its 11th hotel. Doral Resort, formerly the Doubletree, is currently
the largest hotel in the city, with 285 rooms.
Shillcock said the City Group hotel plan complements a proposal for a 3.5-acre, 14-screen theater complex called
the Mary Pickford Theater and Experience, a long-dormant project recently resuscitated when North American Cinemas
Inc. -- operator of the proposed cineplex -- signed a lease agreement with developer Palm Canyon Partners..
Both the proposed theater and the hotel will sit on part of the 24 acres slated for downtown redevelopment, a fraction
of which is occupied by the city's new civic center and an IMAX Theater.
"The proposed theater and hotel work nicely with plans to develop retail shops and restaurants," said
Shillcock, who added that the downtown project may be the largest current redevelopment plan in Southern California.
"This city knows we're never going to compete with Palm Springs as a destination resort town, per se. But
we are targeting groups and working to attract businesses that will serve the 300,000 permanent residents"
of the Coachella Valley, Shillcock said.
According to the memorandum, the project is slated as a full-service hotel with between 250 and 315 suites or miniature
suites.
Some of the units would be designated as time-share units, but at least 120 rooms would be reserved for transient
guests.
The redevelopment agency is talking to Olympus Rancho Mirage about giving hotel guests preferential tee times on
the Ritz-Carlton golf course.
Olympus has previously stated it will only provide preferential tee times to guests of recognized four-star hotels.
-----
To see more of The Business Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thebizpress.com
(c) 1999, The Business Press, Ontario, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business
News.